U.S. patent number 8,255,968 [Application Number 10/939,821] was granted by the patent office on 2012-08-28 for system and method for adaptively controlling the recording of program material using a program guide.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Universal Electronics, Inc.. Invention is credited to Cesar Alvarado, Patrick H. Hayes, Alex Louie.
United States Patent |
8,255,968 |
Louie , et al. |
August 28, 2012 |
System and method for adaptively controlling the recording of
program material using a program guide
Abstract
A system and method for displaying an electronic program guide
("EPG"), the EPG allowing for the controlling of recording
functionality of an appliance and/or playing of media. The
displayable EPG includes a listing of playable media from which the
user may select a program of interest for recording or playing. The
EPG may also include a display of prior recorded media for playing.
Options may be presented to allow for a selection of a rendering
device on which selected media is to be played.
Inventors: |
Louie; Alex (Santa Monica,
CA), Alvarado; Cesar (Orange, CA), Hayes; Patrick H.
(Mission Viejo, CA) |
Assignee: |
Universal Electronics, Inc.
(Cypress, CA)
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Family
ID: |
36060596 |
Appl.
No.: |
10/939,821 |
Filed: |
September 13, 2004 |
Prior Publication Data
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20050055716 A1 |
Mar 10, 2005 |
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Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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10287411 |
Nov 4, 2002 |
7254777 |
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60372874 |
Apr 15, 2002 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
725/133; 725/39;
725/58 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N
21/4135 (20130101); H04N 5/782 (20130101); H04N
21/482 (20130101); H04N 21/47 (20130101); G06F
3/0482 (20130101); H04N 21/4316 (20130101); H04N
21/4821 (20130101); G06F 1/1632 (20130101); H04N
5/44543 (20130101); H04N 21/4227 (20130101); H04N
7/163 (20130101); H04N 21/47214 (20130101); H04N
21/4126 (20130101); G08C 17/00 (20130101); H04N
21/43615 (20130101); G08C 2201/93 (20130101); H04N
21/42209 (20130101); G08C 2201/30 (20130101); H04N
2005/441 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H04N
7/173 (20110101) |
Field of
Search: |
;725/133,39,58 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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0940985 |
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Sep 1999 |
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EP |
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98/16062 |
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Apr 1998 |
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WO |
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98/17063 |
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Apr 1998 |
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WO |
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WO 02/085004 |
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Oct 2002 |
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WO |
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Primary Examiner: Goodarzi; Nasser
Assistant Examiner: Rabovianski; Jivka
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Greenberg Traurig LLP
Parent Case Text
RELATED APPLICATION INFORMATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 10/287,411 (U.S. 2003/0193519 A1) filed on
Nov. 4 2002, which in turn claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Patent Application No. 60/372,874, filed on Apr. 15, 2002, both of
which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. In a portable device having a display, a method for enabling a
user to effect recording of a program, the method comprising:
displaying in the display of the portable device a program guide
including a listing for the program; receiving at the portable
device input requesting that the program be recorded; causing the
portable device to obtain from a calendar application data
indicative of user schedule data; whereupon the portable device
automatically selects an appliance to record the program as a
function of the obtained user schedule data; and transmitting from
the portable device a communication to cause the selected appliance
to effect recording of the program.
2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the portable device
automatically changes the selected appliance to another appliance
in response to a change in the user schedule data and the portable
device transmits a communication to cause the another appliance to
effect recording of the program in lieu of the selected
appliance.
3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the input comprises a
selection of the program listing from within the displayed program
guide.
4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the calendar
application is resident on the portable device.
5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the user schedule data
comprises data indicative of a geographic location.
6. The method as recited in claim 5, comprising accepting input via
a graphical user interface to designate an appliance to be used to
effect recording at the geographic location.
7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the user schedule data
comprises a room designation.
8. The method as recited in claim 1, comprising, storing in the
portable device data indicative of the recording request.
9. The method as recited in claim 8, comprising providing the data
indicative of the recording request directly to the selected
appliance when it is determined that the portable device is able to
establish communication with the selected appliance.
10. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising
downloading the data indicative of the recording request to a
personal computer capable of communicating with the selected
appliance.
11. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the portable device
is a PDA.
12. For use in a portable device having a display, a non-transitory
readable media having stored thereon executable, instructions for
enabling a user to effect recording of a program, the instructions
performing steps comprising: displaying in the display a program
guide including a listing for the program; receiving input
requesting that the program be recorded; obtaining from a calendar
application data indicative of user schedule data; automatically
selecting an appliance to record the program as a function of the
obtained user schedule data; and causing the portable device to
transmit a communication to cause the selected appliance to effect
a recording of the program.
13. The non-transitory readable media as recited in claim 12,
wherein the instructions perform steps for automatically changing
the selected appliance to another appliance in response to a change
in the user schedule data and for causing the portable device to
transmit a communication to cause the another appliance to effect
recording of the program in lieu of the selected appliance.
14. The non-transitory readable media as recited in claim 12,
wherein the input comprises a selection of the program listing from
within the displayed program guide.
15. The non-transitory readable media as recited in claim 14,
wherein the calendar application is resident on the portable
device.
16. The non-transitory readable media as recited in claim 12,
wherein the user schedule data comprises data indicative of a
geographic location.
17. The non-transitory readable media as recited in claim 16,
wherein the instructions perform a step of accepting input via a
graphical user interface to designate an appliance to be used to
effect recording at the geographic, location.
18. The non-transitory readable media as recited in claim 12,
wherein the user schedule data comprises a room designation.
19. The non-transitory readable media as recited in claim 12,
wherein the instructions perform a step of storing in the portable
device data indicative of the recording request.
20. The non-transitory readable media as recited in claim 19,
wherein the instructions perform a step of providing the data
indicative of the recording request directly to the selected
appliance when it is determined that the portable device is able to
establish communication with the selected appliance.
21. The non-transitory readable media as recited in claim 12,
wherein the instructions perform a step of, downloading the data
indicative of the recording request to a personal computer Capable
of communicating with the selected appliance.
22. The non-transitory readable media as recited in claim 12,
wherein the portable device is a PDA.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention generally relates to electronic portable electronic
devices having a display and communication capabilities, and used
in conjunction with a network of entertainment recording and
rendering devices. Exemplary portable devices include personal
digital assistants ("PDAs"), Web Tablets, touch screen remote
controls, lap-top computers, and the like. Exemplary entertainment
recording and rendering devices include personal computers, digital
video recorders ("DVRs," also known as "personal video recorders"
or "PVRs"), conventional video cassette recorders ("VCRs"),
television monitors, digital or analog audio reproduction
equipment, and the like.
In the art it is known to provide a program guide feature whereby
data relating to current and/or future programming (television,
radio, Internet, or the like) is downloaded into a portable device
and stored for later browsing by the user. It is also known to
equip such portable devices with the ability to transmit remote
control signals (using infrared ("IR") or radio frequency ("RF")
transmissions) to change channels on a tuning device in response to
selection by a consumer of a displayed guide entry. Where program
guide data is presented not on the portable device but rather on
the TV set of a user, the program information being supplied by a
tuning device such as a cable or satellite set-top box, it is also
know to provide a feature whereby user selection of a program item
which is scheduled to be shown sometime in the future results in
the automatic recording of that program. This type of automated
recording is accomplished using capabilities that are built-in to
the appliance, for example, the capabilities offered by TiVO,
Replay TV, Ultimate TV, Microsoft Windows Media Center Edition
software installed on a personal computer, and others or, for
example, by control of the consumer's VCR via an "IR blaster."
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the description that follows, a system and
method is provided for controlling the recording functionality of
an appliance using an electronic program guide displayed on an
electronic portable device. As will be appreciated, providing this
functionality to a portable device overcomes the disadvantages seen
in the prior art resulting from the fact that a consumer user is
not necessarily in front of their recording appliance when browsing
the program guide information. Rather, the consumer may be in
another room, another building (e.g., at work), or even in another
city. Furthermore, the location at which the consumer ultimately
wishes to enjoy playback of the previously recorded program item
may vary depending on the time of day, travel schedule, calendar
date, or various other factors--once again, the consumer may be in
another room, another building, or even in another city. A system
and method for displaying an electronic program guide ("EPG") is
disclosed, the EPG allowing for the controlling of recording
functionality of an appliance and/or playing of media. The
displayable EPG includes a listing of playable media from which the
user may select a program of interest for recording or playback.
The EPG may also include a display of prior recorded media for
playback. Options may be presented to allow for a selection of a
rendering device on which selected media is to be played.
To overcome the above described problem, the system and method
described hereinafter will accept the consumer's recording
requests, store them, and automatically convey them to an
appropriately located target recording apparatus at a later time
when the portable device is able to communicate with the recording
appliance. The communication may take the form of docking the
portable device with a computer that shares a home network with a
network-enabled appliance. e.g., a PVR such as Sonicblue's ReplayTV
4000 brand system or a personal computer running Microsoft Windows
Media Center Edition software (in this context it will be
understood that the computer to which the portable device is docked
and the computer upon which the Media Center is implemented may be
one and the same); via wireless communication over a Personal Area
Network or Local Area Network implemented in the consumer's home,
office, or a public location (e.g. airport, coffee shop, etc.)
using, for example, Bluetooth or IEEE 802.11 networking, or via
direct interaction with a suitably-equipped target appliance once
the portable device and the appliance are in communication range.
This communication may also occur in any of the manners described
above but using the Internet or PSTN as an intermediary. In this
manner, the system and method described hereinafter provides a
consumer with the ability to browse and select program material at
any location for future recording at one of several possible
storage locations and have these requests automatically entered
into the appropriate recording apparatus at some later time when
his portable device finds itself able to establish communications
with the target recording apparatus. Furthermore, the electronic
program guide may also display a listing of prior recorded and/or
stored (e.g. digitally downloaded media files, files encoded from
CDs or DVDs, files created by a user, etc) media and options may be
presented to allow for a selection of a rendering device on which
selected media, including prior recorded and/or stored media, is to
be played. It will thus be understood that in the context of the
below detailed description and claims, "programming" and/or
"program" may be any type of recorded or stored media, including
media recorded, downloaded, encoded, created, etc. by a user
without limitation.
A better understanding of the objects, advantages, features,
properties and relationships of the invention will be obtained from
the following detailed description and accompanying drawings which
set forth illustrative embodiments which are indicative of the
various ways in which the principles of the invention may be
employed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Described hereinafter are examples of systems and methods for
adaptively controlling the recording of program material using a
program guide, the descriptions making reference to the attached
drawings in which:
FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary portable device having a remote
control application for use in controlling the operation of home
appliances;
FIG. 2 illustrates exemplary screen shots of a graphical user
interface of the portable device of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary network by which program guide
information is downloadable to the portable device of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 illustrates a more detailed view of the network illustrated
in FIG. 3 together with the user's home network;
FIG. 5 illustrates exemplary screen shots of a graphical user
interface of the portable device of FIG. 1 specifically
illustrating interaction with the downloaded program guide
information to effect automatic program recording;
FIG. 6 illustrates exemplary screen shots of a graphical user
interface of the portable device of FIG. 1 specifically
illustrating incorporation and use of listings for previously
recorded material into the program guide information display;
FIGS. 7-11 illustrate exemplary networks by which the portable
device of FIG. 1 can be used to automatically enable the recording
function of a home appliance;
FIGS. 12-14 illustrate exemplary registration screens by which the
consumer can specify preferences for a downloaded program guide;
and
FIG. 15 illustrates the exemplary provision of a calendar database
in the portable device of FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
A portable device 10 having a universal remote control and program
guide application is provided. By way of example, representative
platforms for the device 10 include, but are not limited to,
devices such as remote controls, lap-top computers, Web Tablets
and/or PDAs manufactured by HP/Compaq (such as the iPAQ brand PDA),
Palm, Visor, Sony, etc. Thus, a preferred underlying platform
includes a processor coupled to a memory system comprising a
combination of ROM memory, non-volatile read/write memory, and RAM
memory (a memory system); a key matrix in the form of physical
buttons; an internal clock and timer; a transmission circuit; a
power supply; a touch screen display to provide visible feedback to
and accept input from a consumer; and I/O circuitry for allowing
the device to exchange communications with an external computer
such as server and/or client. Additional input circuitry, such as a
barcode reader, may also be utilized.
To control the operation of the device 10, the memory system
includes executable instructions that are intended to be executed
by the processor. In this manner, the processor may be programmed
to control the various electronic components within the device 10,
e.g., to monitor power, to cause the transmission of signals, etc.
Within the memory system, the ROM portion of memory is preferably
used to store fixed programming and data that remains unchanged for
the life of the product. The non-volatile read/write memory, which
may be FLASH, EEPROM, battery-backed up RAM, "Smart Card," memory
stick, or the like, is preferably provided to store consumer
entered setup data and parameters, downloaded data, etc., as
necessary. RAM memory may be used by the processor for working
storage as well as to hold data items which, by virtue of being
backed up or duplicated on an external computer (for example, a
client device) are not required to survive loss of battery power.
While the described memory system comprises all three classes of
memory, it will be appreciated that, in general, the memory system
can be comprised of any type of computer-readable media, such as
ROM, RAM, SRAM, FLASH, EEPROM, or the like in combination.
Preferably, however, at least part of the memory system should be
non-volatile or battery backed such that basic setup parameters and
operating features will survive loss of battery power. In addition,
such memories may take the form of a chip, a hard disk, a magnetic
disk, and/or an optical disk without limitation.
For commanding the operation of appliances of different makes,
models, and types, the memory system may also include a command
code library. The command code library is comprised of a plurality
of command codes that may be transmitted from the device 10 under
the direction of the remote control application for the purpose of
controlling the operation of an appliance. The memory system may
also include instructions which the processor uses in connection
with the transmission circuit to cause the command codes to be
transmitted in a format recognized by an identified appliance.
While the transmission circuit preferably utilizes infrared
transmissions, it will be appreciated that other forms of wired or
wireless transmissions, such as radio frequency, may also be used.
Where radio frequency transmission is used, this may take the form
of direct RF communication with the appliance(s) to be controlled,
or may comprise issuing an RF command to an infrared signaling
device co-located with the equipment to be controlled, as described
for example in co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent application
60/517,283 entitled "Home Appliance Control System and Methods in a
Networked Environment" which is incorporated herein by reference in
its entirety.
To identify appliances by type and make (and sometimes model) such
that the remote control application of the device 10 is adapted to
cause the transmission of command codes in the format appropriate
for such identified appliances, information may be entered into the
device 10. Since methods for setting up a remote control
application to cause the transmissions of commands to control the
operation of specific appliances are well-known, they will not be
described in greater detail herein. Nevertheless, for additional
details pertaining to remote control application setup, the reader
may turn to U.S. application Ser. No. 10/288,727 (U.S. 2003/0103088
A1) entitled "User Interface for a Remote Control Device" as well
as U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,225,938, 4,623,887, 5,872,562, 5,614,906,
4,959,810, 4,774,511, and 4,703,359 all of which are incorporated
herein by reference in their entirety. It should also be
appreciated that these set-up methods may be used to configure a
personal computer to communicate with a home appliance, for
example, if the personal computer is anticipated to use
communications to command the operation of appliances in a home
entertainment network such as described below.
To cause the device 10 to perform an action, the device 10 is
adapted to be responsive to events, such as a sensed consumer
interaction with one or more keys on the key matrix, a sensed
consumer interaction with the touch screen display, or a sensed
signal from an external source such as a remote computer. In
response to an event, appropriate instructions within the memory
system are executed. For example, when a hard or soft command key
associated with the remote control application is activated on the
device 10, the device 10 may read the command code corresponding to
the activated command key from the memory system and transmit the
command code to an appliance in a format recognizable by the
appliance. It will be appreciated that the instructions within the
memory system can be used not only to cause the transmission of
command codes to appliances but also to perform local operations.
While not limiting, local operations that may be performed by the
device that are related to the remote control application include
favorite channel setup, macro button setup, command function key
relocation, etc. Examples of such local operations can be found in
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,481,256, 5,959,751, 6,014,092, which are
incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
As discussed, the platform of the device 10 preferably comprises a
general purpose, processor system which is controllable by
software. The software may include routines, programs, objects,
components, and/or data structures that perform particular tasks
that can be viewed as an operating system together with one or more
applications. The operating system, such as the "Windows CE" brand
operating system or the like, provides an underlying set of
management and control functions which are utilized by applications
to offer the consumer functions such as calendar, address book,
spreadsheet, notepad, Internet browsing, etc., as well as control
of appliances. Thus, it is to be understood that applications in
addition to or complimentary with the remote control application
can also be supported by the device 10 and, as such, in terms of
the internal software architecture, the "remote control"
application may be but one of several possible applications which
may co-exist within the device 10.
In terms of providing operating system functionality, it should
also be understood that the demarcation between the portable device
10 and a host/client computer, described in greater detail
hereinafter, may vary considerably from product to product. For
example, at one extreme the portable device 10 may be nothing more
than a slave display and input device in wireless communication
with a computer that performs all computational functions. At the
other extreme, the portable device 10 may be a fully-functional
computer system in its own right complete with local mass storage.
It is also to be appreciated that a hardware platform similar to
that described above may be used in conjunction with a scaled-down
operating system to provide remote control functionality only,
i.e., as a standalone application. In all cases, however, the
principles expressed herein remain the same.
To provide a means by which an consumer can interact with the
device 10, the device 10 is preferably provided with software that
implements a graphical user interface. The graphical user interface
software may also provide access to additional software, such as a
browser application, that is used to display information that may
be received from an external computer. Such a graphical user
interface system is described in previously referenced pending U.S.
application Ser. No. 10/288,727 as well as in pending U.S.
application Ser. No. 10/290,605 (U.S. 2003/0095156 A1) entitled
"Hand Held Remote Control Having an Improved User Interface" and
U.S. Provisional Application 60/264,767 entitled "Universal Remote
Control with Display" which are incorporated herein by reference in
their entirety.
For controlling the operation of one or more consumer appliances,
such as, for example, an audio receiver 12, a VCR 14, a television
16, and/or a PVR 60 as illustrated in FIG. 1, the portable device
10 includes a remote control application. Features offered by the
remote control application may include a "home page" 20 from which
the user may select various functionalities such as, for example, a
device control panel 22, a "Favorites" page 24 (which allows direct
tuning to favorite program channels by logo/name), a program guide
display 26, etc. as illustrated in FIG. 2. The universal remote
control application may also include the capability to configure
multiple rooms, each with distinct equipment, and allow a user to
select his current location from a list 28 as illustrated in FIG.
2d. For a more detailed description of this feature, the interested
reader may refer to the previously referenced U.S. application Ser.
No. 10/288,727. The user's current location may alternatively be
automatically determined using, for example, the methods described
in U.S. Provisional Patent Application 60/517,588 entitled "System
and Method for Controlling Device Location Determination" or in
U.S. Pat. No. 6,563,430 entitled "Remote Control Device with
Location Dependent Interface."
While not intended to be limiting, the program guide display 26 may
be arranged in a grid having a plurality of cells in which
programming information is contained, the grid consisting of cells
arranged in rows corresponding to content providers and columns
corresponding to times of day. For convenience of a user, the
program guide display 26 row indicators may also be formatted using
channel names and/or numbers 38, as illustrated in FIGS. 2c or 3,
or channel logos 39, as illustrated in FIG. 3. Still further, the
row indicators may themselves comprise soft keys or hard keys
(collectively referred to as "buttons") which the consumer may
activate in order to have the device 10 transmit the appropriate
remote control command(s) to cause an appliance to tune to a
channel corresponding to the labeled button. If used, the channel
logo graphics may be included as part of downloaded program guide
data, as will be described hereinafter, or the graphics may be
linked to and derived from the favorite channel display page(s) 24.
It will also be appreciated that the program guide display 26 may
be arranged in numerical or alphabetical sequence by channel, by
favorite channel (in the same sequence as they appear in a favorite
channels page 24), by program type or genre, etc.--either
automatically or manually by a user.
Data for the program guide display 26 may be obtained over the
Internet 30 from a program guide database server 32 using a
personal computer 34 and docking station 36 as illustrated in FIG.
3. In such a system, the device 10 is periodically docked with the
docking station 36 for file synchronization purposes. Since
software for providing such synchronization functionality, e.g.,
Microsoft's ActiveSync brand synchronization software, is well
known and widely used in PDA applications, this functionality will
not be discussed in further detail herein. It will also be
appreciated that while described and illustrated in this instance
in terms of a physical docking station 36, such synchronization may
be equally well performed wirelessly via IEEE 802.11 "WiFi",
Bluetooth, etc., when the device 10 and PC 34 are equipped with
suitable RF networking capabilities. Accordingly, throughout this
document use of the term "docking" in the context of data transfer
or file synchronization, should be understood to encompass any
available form of connectivity between the PDA 10 and a personal
computer 34.
To acquire guide data for use in connection with the remote control
application, an exemplary guide data acquisition process is
illustrated in FIG. 4. As illustrated, raw program guide data 40 is
generally available by subscription from entities such as, for
example, Tribune Media Services ("TMS"). A program guide data
server 32 is normally configured to access the TMS data on a
periodic basis, typically once every 24 hours, after TMS's nightly
update is complete. The raw guide data obtained from TMS may then
be formatted and stored into a local database 42 associated with
the Web server 32. Additional data, such as graphics 401, which may
be associated with program descriptions, special service
information, and/or advertising 402 (e.g., pay-per view), etc. may
also be obtained from third-party sources and combined into the
database 42 for later delivery to system users. It should also be
appreciated that, while the illustrated examples are in the context
of a TV program database sourced from TMS, in practice the
programming information stored in the server database 42 may be
obtained from several different sources and may span more than one
type of programming, for example, radio broadcast information,
Webcasts, movies available for download, etc. in addition to or as
a substitute for TV schedule information.
To obtain program guide information, a consumer may log onto the
Web server 32 using a personal computer 34 and any standard Web
browser such as, for example, Microsoft's Internet Explorer brand
Web browser. The Web server 32 identifies the consumer and their
preferences via a combination of log-in data stored in a
registration database 46 and/or a "cookie" stored on the consumer's
local hard drive. Referring to FIGS. 12-14, the first time the
consumer accesses the Web server 32 they may be asked to submit
information which includes a zip code 120, type of service 122
(e.g., cable, satellite, etc.), service provider 130 (e.g.,
DirectTV, Cox Cable, etc.) and level of service 140 (e.g., basic,
extended basic, premium, etc.). Based on this data, the consumer
could be presented with a complete channel line-up 144 for their
particular service tier and allowed to select which channels they
desire to be included in their guide display. Examples of selected
and unselected channels are shown at 146 and 148, respectively, in
FIG. 14.
In addition, the consumer may be requested to indicate how many
days of programming information 142 the consumer wishes to download
in each session. As these latter parameters are changed, an
indication of the estimated size of the file to be downloaded may
be displayed for the convenience of the consumer. This is
particularly advantageous for consumers that have slower, dial-up
communication lines with the Web server 32 in that they may trade
off the extent of the program guide content to download against
download time.
The parameters established during this initial interaction with the
Web server 32 may then be stored in the registration database 46
and/or locally in a cookie and redisplayed whenever the consumer
subsequently accesses the site. Thus, during subsequent visits to
the Web server 32, the consumer may accept all the parameter values
"as is" or make changes as desired. Certain of these parameters may
also be accumulated by the Web server 32 for statistical purposes
(e.g., "How many cable subscribers in Irvine Calif. include MTV in
their program guide data?"). While described in terms of a consumer
manually accessing the Web server 32 using a Web browser to
retrieve the guide data, once the initial preference parameters are
obtained the process of downloading program guide data may be
automated. For example, the consumer's computer 34 can be
configured to automatically dial out via a PSTN or and/or connect
via the Internet at a fixed time every night, at some predetermined
time interval, etc. to contact the Web server 32 and retrieve the
guide data.
Based on the identity and preferences of a consumer, a Web server
interface 44 and related data extraction programs, illustrated in
FIG. 4, extract an appropriate subset of the program guide data
stored in the database 42 and format this extracted data into a
personal guide data file 48 for transfer to the consumer's computer
34 via the Internet 30. The transferred guide data file may include
program listing information originating from the program guide data
provider 40; supplemental graphics and/or advertising either
associated with particular programs or free standing (originating
from program graphics provider(s) 401); special channel service
information 402 (originating from the service provider of other
entities); etc. all of which may be individually tailored to the
consumer based on their specified preferences, service type, and/or
geographic location. Once located on the consumer's computer 34,
the file 48 may be supplemented with data 66a, 66b representative
of material available from non-broadcast sources such as local or
remote personal recording devices 60 and 68, locally resident on PC
34 itself, or available on networked media source devices such a
DVD jukebox 70 (as shown in FIG. 7), etc. All of this personalized
guide data contained in file 48 may be automatically transferred to
the device 10 via the synchronization process the next time the
device 10 is docked with the computer 34.
The channel guide data downloaded to the portable device 10 may
include panels (individual entries), rows (horizontally across the
time axis), and/or columns (vertically along the channel axis) and
may include advertising or other information interspersed within or
overlaying the panels. As noted, advertising or other information
data may be inserted by the data extraction program of the Web
server 32 based on the preferences of a consumer, the specified
service type, the geographic location of the user, and/or data that
the service provider desires the consumer to be exposed to.
Turning now to FIG. 5, the program guide display 26 may be
configured such that, if the consumer touches a particular guide
listing, e.g., "Friends," a pop-up window 50 displays additional
information regarding the program. The pop-up window 50 may include
extended information 57 regarding the program and, in some
embodiments, may include supplemental graphics 58 which originated
from sources (401, 402) other than the provider of the raw guide
data 40. The pop-up window 50 may also include check boxes, or
other graphical user interface elements, such as menus or the like,
to accept user input. In the illustrated example, a check box 52
and a check box 54, which can be selected using conventional GUI
techniques, allow the consumer to either tag the program event for
future recording or to create a reminder entry in a calendar
application resident on the device 10 and/or computer 34.
By way of example, touching the "Record" check box 52 causes the
data regarding this program event (time, channel, duration, etc.)
to be entered into a recording schedule data file 62 (shown in FIG.
4) located within the device 10. In certain embodiments, multiple
recording appliances may be supported. To this end, if the
recording scheduling application is aware of multiple recording
appliances at different locations each capable of serving as a
repository for the requested program, for example PVRs 60,68 and/or
PC 34 of FIG. 4, device 10 may at this point present the user with
a list of possibilities, for example the pop-up 500 illustrated in
FIG. 5. This list may be presented as a roster of specific
equipments, or may be arranged for greater user convenience by room
or geographic location as illustrated in FIG. 5. The illustrated
pop-up menu 500 allows the user to specify the preferred location
or appliance at which he intends to later view the recorded
material, for example "Family Room," although, as will be described
later this choice may be revised at playback time. The choices
presented may also include an "automatic" option 502 which may for
example default to the user's current location, or alternatively
may be synchronized to a calendar application as described in more
detail hereafter. Once a location has been selected (or if only one
exists), to confirm the acceptance of the recording request in the
data file 62, the appearance of the check box 52 may be caused to
change 56. The device 10 may also perform conflict resolution
(e.g., to determine if there are any overlapping requests)
interactively at this level, or may simply store all requests for
later resolution by the recording device. If multiple recording
appliances are available and a conflict is discovered, the device
10 and/or software in the PC 34 may redirect the recording request
to an alternate recording appliance. It will also be appreciated
that the data regarding the program event may be stored as
described above (date, time, channel, recording location) using one
or more compressed forms, as pointers into guide database entries
in the event the target recording appliance and the portable device
10 use a common data source for guide information, etc. It is also
desired to allow the consumer to remove recording request data from
the file for example, by returning to a program listing and
un-checking the box 52.
As is known in the art, portable device 10 may include other
capabilities besides the universal remote control and program
guide. In particular, a calendar or scheduling application may be
supported, such as for example is provided as part of Microsoft's
Pocket PC software suite. It will also be understood that the
calendar or scheduling application, and/or data from such calendar
or scheduling application(s) need only be available to a recording
scheduling application as described herein, and need not be
resident in the memory of portable device 10 in order to accomplish
the inventive system and method. The basic functioning of such
calendar applications is well know and will not be discussed in
further detail herein, however for additional insight into the uses
of such calendar applications in conjunction with TV guides, etc.,
the reader is referred to co-pending U.S. application Ser. No.
10/287,337 (U.S. 2003/0048295 A1) entitled "System and Method for
Updating Information in a Portable Electronic Device" which is
hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Turning now to FIG. 15, a TV guide display and recording scheduling
application 150 provided as part of the universal remote control
feature previously described may cooperate with such a calendar
application 154 in order to ascertain a user's planned future
locations as one method of implementing an automatic option 502 for
the recording location choice. Furthermore, exemplary calendar
application 154 may periodically synchronize it's data 152 with
calendar data 158 resident in PC 34, for example that of
Microsoft's Outlook application. In the event changes are detected
in a user's schedule, calendar application 154 may convey these to
recording scheduling application 150 which can then make any
necessary adjustments to the target recording appliances in
recording schedule data 62. It should be appreciated that this
coordination and adjustment process, while described in terms of
actions within portable device 10 may alternatively be performed
within PC 34 with equal efficiency. It will also be understood and
appreciated that the passing and exchange of data between the
recording scheduling application and calendar application (or other
traditional computing applications) in order to facilitate the
inventive system and method described herein may be accomplished
via a variety of known programming methods (for example XML based
data exchange methods, or the data exchange capabilities provided
by Microsoft's COM, DCOM, or .NET technologies) which are well
within the ordinary abilities of one skilled in the art.
Returning now to FIG. 4, the consumer's computer 34 may also be
connected to a home network 64 which may be wired or wireless. In
such a case, also attached to the home network may be one or more
network-enabled appliances, for example, a ReplayTV brand personal
video recorder ("PVR"), a network capable DVD jukebox, a media
server application resident on PC 34, etc. When the portable device
10 is docked with the computer 34 for file synchronization, not
only is any updated guide data 48 transferred from the computer to
the device 10, but the contents of the recording schedule request
file 62 could be transferred from the device 10 to the computer 34.
The appropriate portions 62a, 62b of recording request data 62 can
then be transferred from the computer 34 to PVRs 60, 68 via the
home network 64 or Internet 30. In this manner, a consumer may
browse a device-based program guide and enter recording requests
wherever the consumer happens to be located and these requests will
be logged and automatically transferred to the recording appliance
at a later time.
To facilitate user's access to previously recorded and stored
material, TV guide data 48 may be supplemented by listings of
material available from non-broadcast sources such as local or
remote personal recording devices 60 and 68, locally resident on PC
34 itself, or available on networked media source devices such a
DVD jukebox 70, as described earlier. The data may be collected
from the various devices by polling the devices, either directly or
via a network gateway, to determine what programs are stored on the
devices. To this end, the polling may be user initiated and/or
automatically performed, for example, automatically in response to
a request to display an EPG. The data returned may be limited to
programs of a certain type, for example, data indicative of
recorded/stored audio visual programs or data indicative of audio
programs alone may be returned. Such polling may utilize file type
extensions, e.g., ".mpg," ".jpg," ".wav," etc., in the process of
gathering information pertaining to recorded/stored programs. The
polling may also utilize information stored within headers of the
stored/recorded programs as a means to filter which information is
returned. The type of data to be returned may be user settable or
may be automated, for example, being dependent upon the type,
genre, etc. of the information to be displayed within the EPG.
FIG. 6 illustrates how such data may be presented to a user as an
extension 600 of the TV guide data display or separate. In the
example illustrated, these entries are appended en bloc to the end
of the guide data, accessible by moving slider 602 all the way to
the bottom as shown. Other arrangements are also possible, e.g.
presenting items both broadcast and prerecorded sorted by genre,
user favorites, etc. The illustrated display includes listings 604a
of content available on PVR appliances as well as listings 604b for
content available from media server applications on PC 34 and a
listing 604c for content available on a networked DVD jukebox.
Selection of content for playback may be performed by tapping on
the desired item, e.g., as illustrated at 606. Once the item is
selected, a pop-up menu 608 may be presented from which the user
may select the desired location or rendering appliance for
playback. Once again, one choice 610 may comprise an automatic mode
whereby the default may be the location specified at the time the
recording was scheduled (in the case of PVR-based content), may be
the user's current location (as determined by device 10), may be
the closest location at which an appliance capable of rendering the
selected material is available (e.g. an HDTV monitor), may depend
on time of day and/or day of week, etc. The selection amongst those
possibilities may be user-configurable or may itself be
automatically determined via a prioritization algorithm, e.g. first
choice is user's current location provided a suitable rendering
appliance is available, second choice is location of original
recording, etc.
FIGS. 7 through 11 show various embodiments of networks employing
this principle. In FIG. 7, the device 10 is in wireless
communication with the computer 34, for example, as part of an IEEE
802.11 WiFi network. Alternatively, a Bluetooth personal area
network may be used where the device 10 becomes active when brought
into the house. FIG. 7 illustrates how such a network may include
multiple appliances serving as content sources such as local PVRs
local 60a, 60b, a remote PVR 68 (for example at a user's office or
vacation home), the PC itself 34, or a DVD jukebox 70. The network
of FIG. 7 also includes multiple rendering devices 16, some
associated with PVRs 60 or 68, and others directly attached for
example via a network video adapter 72. FIG. 8 shows how the device
10 may be docked at a remote computer 80 (e.g. in the consumer's
office) which acquires the recording schedule request data and
transfers it via the Internet 30 to the consumer's home computer 34
where it is processed as described previously (for clarity, the
rest of the network associated with the home computer 34, assumed
similar to that of FIG. 7 is not repeated in FIGS. 8 and 9). FIG. 9
shows a similar arrangement except that in this case the office
system includes a wireless Internet gateway device 90 which is used
by the device 10 to directly transfer the recording schedule
request data to the Internet 30 and thereby to the computer 34.
FIG. 10 shows an arrangement in which both ends are equipped with
wireless Internet gateways and the device 10 transfers the
recording schedule request data directly to a recording appliance
60 which itself serves as an interface into the rest of the home
network. Still further, FIG. 11 shows a system in which device 10
communicates directly via a wireless link with a recording
appliance 60. In this case, the device 10 transfers the recording
schedule request data directly to the recording appliance 60 when
it is brought into proximity to the recording appliance 60, using
either infrared or RF wireless communication. Transfer in this case
may be manually initiated by the consumer, triggered automatically
(for example, by the device 10 sensing it has been brought into
range of a Bluetooth personal area network of which the recording
appliance 60 is also a member), may be automatically initiated at a
user-selected fixed time each day, etc. Once again, recording
appliance 60 may serve as an interface or gateway into the rest of
the home network.
While specific embodiments of the invention have been described in
detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that
various modifications and alternatives to those details could be
developed in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure. For
example, it will be appreciated that while a PVR was utilized in
the illustrative example set forth above, in fact any appliance
capable of recording program material, including the computer
itself, may be scheduled in this manner. In addition, it will be
appreciated that the device can be setup such that an indication to
a record a program can be accomplished by allowing a consumer to
directly select a program from the guide without the need for
providing a pop-up window or additional graphical user interface
selection elements. Accordingly, the particular arrangement
disclosed is meant to be illustrative only and not limiting as to
the scope of the invention which is to be given the full breadth of
the appended claims and any equivalents thereof. All of the
references cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference in
their entirety.
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